BBC Radio 4 - Material World
Material World
Weekly science conversation, on everything from archaeology to zoology, from abacus to the antipodean rodent zyzomys, by way of meteorites. Presented by Quentin Cooper, and airing every Thursday, 4:30 pm.
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Inside Science:Bovine TB:Coral Sunscreen;Space Junk
The government have announced a plan to rid England of bovine TB within 25 years. Corals could save us from sunburn in summers to come. Why we need to tackle the problem of space junk.
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Material: Ancient Horses; Uncertainty; Cutlery and Taste
How 700 000 year old horse DNA could change the way scientists study evolution; why scientists are seldom certain of their findings and how cutlery changes the taste of food.
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MRC; Snails; Applause
Pioneering work in the treatment of TB set the gold standard for future clinical trials. Geneticists at the University of Nottingham have confirmed a unique and close relationship between the snails of Ireland and those of a small region in the Pyrenees. When the curtain falls, what determines the length of the rapturous ovation?
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Digital spying;Dornier 17;Germination;Cheetahs
Monitoring information has become much simpler in the digital age. Encrusted sea-life helped protect the Dornier 17 from the worst ravages of the sea. Understanding the process whereby seeds control germination might one day help in the battle against malaria. Cheetahs rely more on manoeuvrability than maximum speed when out hunting.
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Cheltenham Science Festival
Professor Elspeth Garman commemorates a century since the publication of an idea that made discovering protein structures possible: The Bragg Equation. How can we better understand and perhaps control the spread of drug-resistant HIV? FameLab, started in the UK in 2005,is a world-leading science communication competition. Why is the model so successful. Do media portrayals of crime reflect the real-life people and real-life science involved?